FIELD OPERATIONS ARCHIVE - STATION OPS REFERENCE
ORIG. FILE: Tethys-Crown-Reclamation/542-77. Imperial Navy Records
CURRENT STATUS: Unverified, Decentralized
I. STRUCTURAL OVERVIEW
Kerebos Station is an amalgam of warship ruin, mineral accretion, and decades of salvager improvisation. The core installation consists of the gutted superstructure of an Imperial Fleet Command Carrier (Hull Class: Crown)—a vessel never intended for static habitation. It became a station only by necessity: the carrier drifted uncontrolled through the Shatterfield for years, gradually capturing asteroid fragments that fused to its damaged plating under repeated micro-collisions.
Over time, salvager crews, scavenger guilds, and opportunistic engineers welded non-uniform pressure housings, patchwork bulkheads, and irregular scrap trusses to the surviving decks, creating a labyrinth of chambers, rigged corridors, and semi-pressurized pockets. Some areas remain recognizable as parts of the original carrier architecture; others have no logical layout at all and appear to defy the ship’s original schematics.
The result is a station that is simultaneously functional, fragile, and deeply inconsistent.
Stability Rating: Coded YELLOW
Station integrity is considered “conditionally stable.” Critical load-bearing structures are intact, but stress distribution varies significantly between sections. Structural harmonics shift with temperature cycles, ship traffic, and minor impacts from drifting debris.
Localized Hazards:
- Buckling frames - Certain midline corridors—especially in the Skein and underhull sections—show chronic stress warping. Reinforcement efforts are ongoing but incomplete.
- Loose Plating - Sections of legacy hull armor have separated from their mounts. Sudden plate detachments occur without warning, particularly during grav-flux incidents.
- Decompression Pockets - Multiple micro-breaches exist throughout legacy maintenance shafts and forgotten compartments. Some have held vacuum for decades and remain unmarked.
- Patch Pressure Zones - “Breathing walls” are common—flexing pressure skins that expand or contract during atmospheric shifts.
- Unmapped Sections - New passages have formed through subsidence or collapse; others have been sealed by unknown parties.
II. DOCKING & ACCESS REGULATIONS
Kerebos Station authorizes docking only through its monitored Reachward Approach Corridor, using three fixed vectors aligned with the station’s lowest-debris zone. These lanes are narrow, imperfectly mapped, and maintained through a patchwork of functioning Imperial-era sensors, salvaged Hierate proximity gridwork, and RRD34 transponder buoys.
Authorized Vectors: Reachward Corridor (A1, A2, A3)
- Vector A1 - Light craft: small vessels, couriers, shuttles.
- Vector A2 - Standard approach: vessels 100�“400 tons.
- Vector A3 - Heavy craft requiring tug or tractor support during final approach.
Outer Gantries: 6 active platforms, all varied in condition due to decades of salvage-layer construction.
- Gantry 1-3 - Rated “stable.” Preferred RRD34 berths and highest priority in emergency rotations.
- Gantry 4 - Low-pressure seal; vacc suit required for all transfers.
- Gantry 5 - Grav-plate pulse irregularities; intermittent near-zero-G during docking cycles.
- Gantry 6 - Decompression alarms prone to false positives; longest recorded safe interval: 523 cycles
Internal Bays: 24 active, 6 inactive (sealed). These bays exist deep inside the partially intact carrier flight deck known as the Borealis Section
- Maximum tonnage - 800 (practical limit)
- Atmosphere - Thin but consistently filtered; cleaner than outer gantry air.
- Docking Corridor - Reinforced, illuminated; heavy EM interference common.
- Access - Restricted; RRD34 clearance or League authorization required.
Atmospheric Grade: Sub-optimal
- Quality Analysis - Metallic taste in air; Inconsistent pressure pockets; Thinner O₂ concentration between decks
- Respirators and rebreathers are recommended, especially in transition zones (decks/sections) but not required or regulated. Exceptions in outer gantries which have nuanced safety protocols.
All incoming vessels must broadcast an active and verifiable transponder signal containing:
- Vessel ID
- Last jump origin
- Crew Count
- Active cargo/salvage certifications (if applicable)
- Flight log fragment - minimum 24 hours
- Pressure Integrity Report (1 functional airlock required)
III. POWER & LIFE SUPPORT
Kerebos Station’s power infrastructure is a patchwork of surviving Imperial systems, decades-old salvage, and jury-rigged frontier engineering. Operations are monitored jointly by RRD34 (ESM Division) and voluntary maintenance crews from the Warrant League. The station technically meets minimum survival thresholds—thanks more to stubbornness than stability.
Reactor: Crown class fusion core (75% functionality)
- Status - Three of the six containment rings are inert; remaining rings operate in rotation to prevent overload.
- Output fluctuations are common, especially during peak station cycles or when too many gantries draw load simultaneously
- Auxiliary power is supplemented by scavenged micro-reactors and patched solar sheeting attached to asteroid strata.
- Emergency brownouts are considered "normal" and frequent; blackouts occur every 20-30 cycles.
Life Support: Minimal efficiency; O₂ recycling below Imperial standard (Current established parameters overwrite Imperial standard; status green)
- Oxygen generation relies on half functioning Imperial scrubbers augmented with salvaged atmospheric processors.
- Micro leaks across hull seams cause gradual pressure decay; routine compensatory cycles maintain survivable levels.
- CO₂ scrubbing efficiency fluctuates; elevated levels are common during crowd surges (markets, dock rush periods, RRD34 musters).
- Water reclamation operates below expected purity, but still within Green Zone tolerances.
- Full-deck humidity varies dramatically, from arid in upper decks to near-condensation in lower engineering corridors.
- Atmospheric alarms are often ignored; 40% are false positives, but the remaining 60% are not.
Grav Systems: 27% functional across all decks
- Grav-plates function intermittently and rarely at consistent strength.
- The Mainline Habitat maintains the most reliable grav zones (~0.4g).
- Crown Spindle and Skein decks fluctuate heavily, often dropping to micro-gravity without warning.
- Structural instability can cause localized shifts in vector drift, especially around old fighter bays and sealed compartments.
- Some salvage crews prefer to work in the unstable zones, citing “better maneuverability.” RRD34 strongly disagrees.
Communications: Low band local only; no x-boat linkage
Station operates on short-range, low-band comms with heavily degraded bandwidth.
- Long-range signal amplification is unreliable; the comm tower atop the Crown Spindle is jury-rigged and drifts slightly off alignment twice a cycle.
- No active link to the old Imperial X-boat network; remnants of related tech exist but are inert or scavenged.
- Communications within asteroid cluster often experience echo, static, or full dropouts.
- Emergency beacons override standard channels but can only broadcast within a limited arc of the Reachward Corridor.
- Rumors persist of a dormant long-range relay buried in sealed carrier decks, though no team has verified this claim.
IV. GOVERNANCE
The Warrant League exercises administrative claim based on pre-Collapse salvage writs. Enforcement is non-standard; personnel discretion advised.
V. DECKS & SECTIONS
Kerebos Station is an accreted hybrid of warship decks, salvaged structures, jury-rigged corridor webs, and asteroid crust. Each major section carries its own culture, hazards, and political dynamics. Movement between decks often requires navigating pressure differentials, grav inconsistencies, or improvised access shafts.
A. The Crown Spindle: (Upper deck/Bridge cluster)
The Crown Spindle remains the most structurally Imperial part of the station. Tiered access corridors spiral upward into sealed command chambers, many still bearing the gold Imperial sigils tarnished with age. Most consoles no longer function, but enough do to maintain Kerebos’ comms beacon and sensor grid.
- Function: The surviving command spire of the Crown-class carrier, largely intact but heavily repurposed.
- Environment: Thin air, cold plating, flickering consoles. The quiet hum of old Imperial machinery mixes with the hiss of patched life-support lines.
- Occupants: ~200 - system engineers, operations technicians, high-level specialists, and Warrant League Oathkeepers.
- Command Deck 0 - Most compartments welded shut or fused by damage. Rumors persist of dormant AI shunts, encrypted data cores, and sealed lockdown vaults dating to Fleet Command protocols.
- Crown Hab 1 - Sparse but well-maintained staterooms housing Tech Guild personnel. Oathkeepers claim authority here and monitor access closely.
- Navigation Array Towers - Antennae clusters extending outward, providing the station’s limited-range comms and approach beacon coverage.
B. The Mainline Habitat Ring (Mid-Deck/Central Corridor)
The Habitat Ring circles the central mass of the carrier, forming a chaotic but lively community of stacked living quarters, vendor rows, drinking dens, repair shops, and communal spaces. Grav-plates work here more reliably than anywhere else, giving the deck an impression of stability—however false.
- Function: Primary residential and commercial district.
- Environment: Crowded, noisy, bustling; the closest Kerebos has to a “city center.”
- Occupants: 2,500 fixed residents by last census (917 cycles out of date).
- Hearth Sector - The densest cluster of living quarters. Tiny bunk-cubes stacked four or five high, sound-dampening failing in many, but surprisingly stable and warm.
- Eightfold Marketwalk - Twisting stalls and vendor pockets offering legitimate goods, salvaged tech, and less legitimate merchandise. “If you can’t find it here, it’s either illegal or too big to carry.”
- Law - Warrant League patrols enforce rough stability. Several Skein-linked gangs also operate in the cracks between official routes.
C. The Skein (Lower decks/underhull)
The Skein is where structure gives way to improvisation. Passageways twist into ad-hoc tunnels. Grav is inconsistent. Heat vents bleed into open spaces. Old fighter bays have become dens, bunk rows, or scrap labs.
- Function: Black-market nexus, modification hub, gang territory.
- Environment: Tight tunnels, low lighting, pervasive shadows; corridors woven together from derelict fighter bays and scavenged plating.
- Occupants: 1200 transient workers, smugglers, pirates, fixers
- Skein Market - large, unpoliced exchange
- Backline Pits - robot fights, gambling, hush-pay duels
- Known factions - Skein Broker's Guild (black market), Ironhook Syndicate (organized crime), Patchworx (maintenance/sabo gang)
D. Dockside Superstructure (External girders/Internal Docking arms/Gantries)
The Dockside Superstructure hangs off the carrier’s starboard underhull, a skeletal forest of scaffolding beams, pressure tubes, and docking arms built out of mismatched scrap. Despite this, it is the most controlled environment on the station—RRD34 maintains authority here.
- Function: Station interface with incoming ships; primary trade, refuel, and RRD34 operations zone.
- Environment: Cold, vacuum-adjacent concourses with exposed trusswork and heavy machinery.
- Occupants: 1000+ technicians, RRD34 personnel, ship crews
- RRD34 operations deck - A wide monitoring hall, briefing floor, and logistics nexus. Fully secured and always staffed.
- Borealis Entry - Primary access route to internal docking bays; shuttle lifts carry personnel to active berths.
- The Spiral - A ring of corridors winding the outer hull, granting direct access to each gantry platform.
- The Commons - Temporary housing, makeshift bars, micromarkets, and crew-rest cubicles for short-term visitors.
E. The Shatterfield (Outer hull/Debris field)
The Shatterfield encases Kerebos like a halo of jagged stone and broken metal. Much of it fused to the hull over decades of uncontrolled drift. Other fragments remain free-floating, forming unpredictable eddies and hazards for anyone working outside. RRD34 regulates EVA permits, but enforcement is nearly impossible.
- Function: Scrap harvesting, EVA operations, debris management.
- Environment: Zero gravity, drifting wreckage fields, unstable spin pockets.
- Occupants: Minimal; EVA workers and authorized salvage crews only.
F. The Deep Well (Engineering Decks/Reactor Spine)
Built around the fractured Crown-class fusion core, the Deep Well is a maze of heat baffles, coolant wells, maintenance shafts, and bulkhead partitions barely holding pressure. Constant repair work echoes throughout the deck.
- Function: Reactor operations, power grid hubs, life-support machinery, emergency infrastructure.
- Environment: Hot, loud, humid, claustrophobic; the beating mechanical heart of Kerebos.
- Occupants: 500+ engineers, mechanics, vent-workers, pump-teams, and sublevel tech groups.
- The Long Dark - Over 2 km of unlit maintenance tunnels run parallel to the reactor spine. Many are unmapped or partially collapsed.
- Coolant Wells - Hazardous, mist-filled basins where illicit goods are often hidden.
- Spine Access Hatches - Locked by RRD34; tampering is grounds for station-wide sanction.